Noodling Illegal in Texas -- For Now



We've mentioned noodling before. It's a fishing technique that consists of grabbing a fish with your bare hands and tossing it up on the shore. But here in Texas we do it a bit differently. Noodling consists of shoving one's fist into the water. Then, when a big ol' catfish clamps its jaws around your hand, fling it out of the water.

Currently and sadly, noodling is illegal. But that may change. The Wall Street Journal spoke to expert noodler Brady Knowlton:

Nothing beats "the heebie-jeebies you get underwater, in the dark, with this little sea monster biting you," he says. He recalls that his arm looked like "the first stage of a chili recipe" after his first noodling experience about 15 years ago. Catfish are equipped with bands of small but very abrasive teeth.

The bill swam easily through the state house, but now rod-and-reel anglers are speaking up against the proposed law, currently in the state Senate.

They say noodling is unfair to the fish, since they're grabbed in their burrows without a chance to swim away.


Link via Ace of Spades HQ

All of the people I have met that noodled ate the fish. So I do not see the real purpose of fairness and sport in this case. It is not catching and releasing as often barehanded hunting for food.

It would be like saying you can't use a high powered sniper rifle from behind a rock to hunt a deer, but instead you have to walk up to it, offer it a carrot instead, and then I guess slip a bag over its head to suffocate it to death.
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The legs may have been lost while in the military, protecting your freedoms. Find out before making jokes. Personally I think noodling is foolhardy, but no more cruel than fishing with a hook. Should the govt protect us from ourselves? I say no, but they should have to pay their medical bills if they get injured. Sadly, there is no easy way to enforce that.
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If they lost their legs drunk driving I doubt that an insurance company would pay for the expensive prostethis and rehab. These guys would be in wheelchairs.
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It's a shame the picture didn't end at thigh level. Obviously, the people commenting are obsessing way too much over their legs (or lack thereof). It's too bad you can't look at someone and see who they are - obviously, a trio of foolish rednecks who also happen to be missing a few limbs.
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From some one that has done it as long as I have 18 years to be exact make the shit legal no harm is done to the fish and it is one hell of a thrill ride when you catch 2 weighing anywhere from 60 to 70 pounds in the same hole
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